High school boys’ basketball: Prep taken down in sectional semis

BUENA VISTA – Although the season ended with the lowly feeling of defeat, the future of the St. Augustine Prep boys’ basketball program is on the rise.

“We have a great group and we are going to be fine,” said Paul Rodio, the veteran coach of second-seeded St. Augustine, about his young team after a disappointing 47-36 to third-seeded Paul VI Monday in the Non-Public A South semifinals.

The Hermits (23-5) will surely miss the senior leadership of starters Kevin Kennedy, Brian Seward and Nate Segal, but the talented underclass trio of freshman Justyn Mutts and sophomores Sa’eed Nelson and Mike Vasturia provides the solid reason for optimism from South Jersey’s all-time winningest coach.

The 5-foot-8 Nelson (10 points), 6-4 Vasturia (nine) and 6-5 Mutts (six) combined for all but 11 of the Hermits’ points against the stingy Paul VI defense.

Paul VI (24-4) starts five seniors and just had too much experience for the youth of St. Augustine.

The Eagles play top-seeded St. Joseph Metuchen (26-2), a semifinal winner over fifth-seeded Bishop Eustace, in the sectional championship on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Jackson Liberty High School. St. Joseph, with 7-foot-1 Kentucky recruit Karl Townes, is the two-time defending state champions.

The Hermits looked like they were going to make another trip to the South Jersey finals in Rodio’s legendary career when their talented youth and veteran leadership combined to start the third quarter with a tide-turning 16-6 run for a sudden 25-23 lead.

Nelson, a fearless point guard, scored five straight points during the middle of the run to give the Hermits an initial boost of confidence. Then Mutts scored on a layup and foul shot to cut the Eagles’ lead to 21-19.

A 3-pointer by Vasturia, a powerful big man with soft hands, from the left corner pulled the Hermits within one point at 23-22.

Then, after a blocked shot by Mutts, Kennedy buried a 3-pointer for a 25-23 lead with 3:05 left in the riveting third quarter.

However, Paul VI answered like the veteran team it is, finishing the third quarter on a 10-2 run, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Jair Green (15 points) and Howard, to go into the fourth quarter with a 33-27 lead.

The Hermits made another push in the fourth quarter as Nelson made a free throw and Mutts hit a jumper to slice the Eagles’ lead to 37-32 with 3:40 to play, but Paul VI answered with a 5-0 run for its largest lead of the game at 42-32 with 1:25 left.

“I told our team I was really proud how we responded to their two spurts,” said Paul VI coach Tony Devlin.

Predictably, with these two excellent man-to-man defensive teams, the pace of the game in the first quarter was deliberate. The Hermits didn’t score until 4:20 left in the first quarter and, remarkably, the 3-pointer by Segal gave St. Augustine a 3-2 lead.

The Hermits extended their lead to 8-4 after the first as Vasturia scored four points and Mutts added a free throw.

But the Eagles, mixing in a 2-2-1 press with a 2-3 zone along with man, didn’t allow a field goal over the next eight minutes to take a 17-9 lead at the half.

Paul VI finished the final 4:15 of the second quarter on a 9-0 run, sparked by a 3-pointer from senior substitute Alex Danko for an 11-9 lead.

In the end, it was the heavy senior experience of Paul VI which made the difference in this game.

“I’m very happy with the group we had,” Rodio said. “We did so many good things.”